1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a device for verifying personal information and, more particularly, to an electronic device removably attachable to an auxiliary register system for verifying a user's personal information during point-of-sale transactions. The present invention is an improvement to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/043,251, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
2. Prior Art
The use of thumb print readers is known in the prior art. More specifically, thumb print readers heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of scanning a thumbprint are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. Cash register systems which enable the performance of transactions, such as cash issuance at terminals remote from and in communication with a host data processing system having a central database in which account and other information is stored, are well known.
Such systems, which are frequently used by grocery stores and other commercial settings to extend their services, and permit the completion of a transaction through a cash register. Such a cash register typically includes a mechanism for receiving and reading information from a card, a user input such as a keyboard, a display and document entry and exit apertures.
Issuing a personal ID number with each credit/debit card attains increased security for the issuance of cash or other transactions without intervention of a second party. A credit/debit card transaction is then enabled only when an ID number corresponding to the account number read from the credit/debit card is entered through the keyboard. This required correspondence prevents a thief or mere finder of a credit/debit card from receiving cash, for example, from a terminal or a cash register.
Upon entry by a terminal user or a customer of a credit/debit card and personal identification number, the terminal is instructed to communicate the credit/debit card data and the personal identification number to the host for authorization of the transaction. At the host, a database of identification numbers is accessed by the card data. The identification number obtained from the database is compared with the personal identification number received from the terminal to perform a host PIN check.
When ID cards, credit cards or debit cards are stolen, passwords and/or ID numbers read from card can be decrypted. Thus, presenting a password or a personal identification number with a card is woefully inadequate in preventing individuals other than the registered users from accessing the computer. Obviously, it would be advantageous to use a means of identification that is absolutely unique to the credit/debit card holder, such as their fingerprint.
Accordingly, a need remains for an electronic device for verifying a user's personal information in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing an electronic identity verifying device that improves the support bracket used to hold the authorization device at a location that is accessible by a customer and a store clerk at a point-of-sale location. Such a device is easy to use by selectively pivoting the authorization device to a desired location, which both a store clerk and a customer can access. This saves all parties involved a great amount of time, energy and most importantly, money.